Five years ago, British diving had reached giddy heights. Two golds, two silvers and a bronze at the junior European Championships in Geneva promised a new golden age for British diving, something that seemed to be confirmed when Great Britain won a silver medal in Athens in 2004.

Soon several British athletes looked destined for stardom, including the synchronised divers Leon Taylor and Peter Waterfield, who, buoyed by lottery grants, were able temporarily to give up their day jobs to pursue glory.

But fast-forward to the present day and diving - a world of somersaults and pointed toes - is in the doldrums, according to enthusiasts. The widespread removal of diving boards, chiefly on health and safety grounds, has meant that there are now few top-class facilities for British divers. As a result, a new generation of high divers has failed to materialise, something the sport's enthusiasts fear will have consequences for Britain's standing in the medal tables come 2012.

'We should be getting divers coming through at the junior level to compete with the best in Europe,' said John Whitby, until recently the chief executive of the Great Britain Diving Federation. 'But we are not competing at the same level as we were in 2002.'

In Britain there are now only six available 10-metre-high, Olympic-standard diving boards. British athletes often have to travel many miles to train.

More than 90 per cent of the diving boards in London's pools have been removed over the past 30 years. During the same period, 19 out of the 20 boards at outdoor pools around the coast, where diving was once a big seaside attraction gathering sizeable crowds, have disappeared, according to the federation.

'Part of it is down to health and safety legislation,' Whitby said. 'The pools were too shallow for the high boards 30 years ago, but rather than build deeper pools they just shut them.' Whitby also blames cost-cutting measures for what he sees as a lack of proper supervision at pools. 'Most lifeguards are being paid the wages of fast-food workers. These days they'd rather just sit and watch.'

The lack of Olympic-standard diving boards could cause the organisers of the 2012 Olympics a headache. The host nation has an obligation to allow its public the chance to see the world's athletes train in the run-up to the games. But, the federation warns, the big diving nations, such as the US and Australia, will have to send their divers to countries such as Belgium and France, where there are better facilities.

The dearth of championship divers in Britain has prompted drastic measures. UK Sport, the body that promotes development of athletes, is trying to recruit former gymnasts with a view to turning them into divers at the 2012 Games.

The crisis comes at a time when more money is being pumped into diving. UK Sport earmarked nearly £1m to train potential Olympic-standard divers in the run-up to the Sydney Games in 2000 while £1.4m was devoted to Athens. About £2.5m is being spent on training divers for Beijing with a further £2m earmarked for the London 2012 Games.

Partly in response to concerns that fewer people are taking up diving, the Amateur Swimming Association has launched Flip 'n' Fun, an initiative to encourage children to learn to dive from poolsides. But it may be too little too late as far as the 2012 Games are concerned. 'It's using a plaster on a dam,' Whitby said.

Rip, don't splash

The pinnacle event in the world of diving is the platform dive, which, for the purposes of major competitions such as the Olympic Games and world championships ,requires all dives to be executed from 10 metre-high boards.

Divers must perform a set number of dives according to various established requirements, including somersaults and twists. A perfect entry, with no splash, is called 'a rip', after the loud tearing sound it creates, and is usually accompanied by a 'pop', caused by the diver's hands hitting the water.

A bad entry is called 'a wash'. A score out of 10 is broken down into three points for the take-off, three for theflight and threefor the entry, with one more available to give the seven judges flexibility.

The raw score is multiplied by a difficultyfactor, derived from the number and combination of movements attempted. The winning diver is the one with the highest total score after a sequence of dives.

During the flight of the dive, there are four identifiable positions: 1. Straight - with no bend at the knees or hips